Restaurant Feasibility Study in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about full-service restaurant lending in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Sizing up 2,275 New York loans

Loan size comes first in reading the New York full-service restaurant record. Between FY2017 and FY2026, approved dollars of $1.27 billion back 2,275 full-service restaurant loans across the New York metro. The typical loan is $200,000, with the middle half spanning $50,000 to $620,000. At 0.73x of the national median for full-service restaurant, New York sits below the national figure.

New York against the nation at 1.10x

In New York, NY the split by program reads 2,164 for 7(a) against 111 for 504, with 7(a) ahead. In New York, 3.6% of the 2,275 loans belong to a franchise brand. Seen from New York, full-service restaurant ranks 1 of 39 among its classes; seen from the nation, New York ranks 1 of 821 among areas. 1.10x is the New York, NY quotient: the class is denser in New York than nationwide. By county, New York County, NY leads with 394 loans, then Bergen County, NJ with 246 and Kings County, NY with 221. With NJ, NY all inside the New York-Newark-Jersey City area, rules and costs may differ across one project search.

Who holds the 2,275 New York loans

The busiest printed year was FY2017, 330 loans and $144.2 million; the quietest was FY2020, 132 loans and $79.4 million. Among 7(a) holders of full-service restaurant loans, TD Bank, National Association (356 loans, $40.2 million); Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company (161 loans, $18.8 million); NewBank (147 loans, $107.4 million). TD Bank, National Association holds the most loans, while NewBank holds the most dollars, a split a New York borrower ought to note. The $40.2 million under TD Bank, National Association is a record from SBA of loans held or once held, and not a verdict on TD Bank, National Association's lending. For 504, Empire State Certified Development Corporation, 59 loans, $70.0 million and Trenton Business Assistance Corporation, 38 loans, $44.8 million lead the New York, NY list. Cancellation after approval is 16.8% at minimum and 17.9% at most, for New York-Newark-Jersey City approvals of FY2017 to FY2024. 921 loans form the loss cohort for New York-Newark-Jersey City; 8.5% have been charged off so far, 4.8% inside five years.

Testing a full-service restaurant project in New York, NY

A New York study starts with household dining spend, lunch and dinner traffic and the pull of the neighborhood after dark; the 2,275-loan record cannot stand in for them. Cost comes next: a New York budget must carry opening inventory, occupancy and buildout, each priced against New York quotes. Stress New York, NY earnings with a $50,000 loan and a $620,000 loan, then check where coverage weakens. The appraiser probes New York-Newark-Jersey City collateral too, namely the lease, the operating business and the building; a New York study anticipates each. The $1.27 billion New York file is a yardstick, not a forecast, and promises no New York, NY applicant approval.

How to read New York's $1.27 billion

Placement of 2,275 New York-Newark-Jersey City loans runs on the project county. Counties such as New York County, NY join New York, NY by name under the July 2023 delineation. Rates in New York name their own cohort years, so cancellation and charge-off differ in span.

SBA full-service restaurant loans in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY20262,275
Gross dollars approved$1.27 billion
Median loan$200,000
Middle half of loans, from$50,000
Middle half of loans, to$620,000
SBA 7(a) loans2,164
SBA 504 loans111
Franchise share of loans3.6%
Rank among metro and micro areas for full-service restaurant loans1 of 821
Rank of full-service restaurant among the classes in this area1 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)1.10x
Median loan against the national median for the class0.73x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)16.8%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)17.9%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)8.5%
Charged off within five years of approval4.8%
Loans in that cohort921

Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.

SBA full-service restaurant loans approved in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area, by fiscal year

0100200300400FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 330Loans, FY2018: 272Loans, FY2019: 249Loans, FY2020: 132Loans, FY2021: 138Loans, FY2022: 145Loans, FY2023: 236Loans, FY2024: 257Loans, FY2025: 270Loans, FY2026: 246
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY2017330$144.2 million
FY2018272$114.6 million
FY2019249$157.0 million
FY2020132$79.4 million
FY2021138$124.6 million
FY2022145$106.3 million
FY2023236$124.8 million
FY2024257$128.3 million
FY2025270$127.4 million
FY2026246$159.4 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Empire State Certified Development Corporation59$70.0 million
Trenton Business Assistance Corporation38$44.8 million
Business Initiative Corporation of New York7$5.0 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
TD Bank, National Association356$40.2 million
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company161$18.8 million
NewBank147$107.4 million
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association137$20.6 million
Santander Bank, National Association132$14.9 million

Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.

Where the loans are, by county

CountyLoans
New York County, NY394
Bergen County, NJ246
Kings County, NY221
Queens County, NY206
Suffolk County, NY171
Nassau County, NY141
Essex County, NJ100
Monmouth County, NJ95
Westchester County, NY95
Middlesex County, NJ91

Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.

Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.

A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MA-35620-C34.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a full-service restaurant project in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

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